The Cursed Ones
by Demigod117
Summary: The Argo II hovers over Italy, somewhere far from Rome, far from the pit that led to Tartarus, but something is using the crew. Nico remembers all too well the monster from the pit, the one that now begs to be fed, and forces Nico to kill, down down down they go, one by one. The only ones who can stop him and save the crew before it's too late are Leo and Hazel. HazelxLeo
1. Chapter 1

The Argo II hovered over somewhere in the south of Italy, far away from Rome but still the sight haunted Nico.

He had just watched them fall, helpless. He'd watched as Percy let go of the ledge and plummeted into the depths of Tartarus, clinging onto Annabeth as he did so. It was his fault, he should have cut the silk before it was too late, he should have realised... That Annabeth would be the one to pay for his mistake. He could still hear it, the monster.

_Rise young Demigod, but know that as you wake another shall slip. Down, down, down, she goes._

Then he had woken up in that horrible warehouse, with Percy, Jason and Piper fighting for his life.

"If only they knew what my life would cost," He said aloud.

He heard footsteps coming up behind him, Hazel. She was the only one who knew who was really to blame for Percy and Annabeth...

"Nico," She started, exasperated, "You can't blame yourself. It isn't your fault! For all you know the monster was a hallucination."

She put a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah, yeah, you're probably right," He said, turning to give her a reassuring smile.

Hazel looked content and walked off to go talk to Leo. They'd been getting closer and closer lately...

Nico let himself get distracted by the thought. Hazel and Leo, the two were fated to be together. How did he know? Well the monster told him...

_The undead girl and the boy of fire are destined to share a life, but the boy who's form can shift shall soon be cast aside._

He felt kind of bad for Frank, but there was more the monster had told him. More about Hazel and Leo, they were destined to be together it had said, but at a price.

"Another price," Nice muttered, "I just hope this time somebody doesn't die."

At that he could hear the monster's laughter, mocking him.

_Oh my dear demigod, somebody will die. And you shall be the one to take their life. Down, down, down, it's time for lunch, boy._

**Hey guys, sorry about the length of this chapter, there will be more in chapters to come. Let me know what you think and any suggestions about where the story might lead.**


	2. Chapter 2

Hazel approached Leo, he was sad, he'd never admit it but he was. In Percy's absence Leo had stepped up and taken charge of the voyage, he'd become the leader. While this new commanding officer thing was really attractive (she wasn't going to lie) Hazel missed the old Leo, the one who made stupid jokes and laughed at everything. She missed him, she wanted him back.

"Leo," She patted him on the shoulder and he turned away from the controls and smiled at her.

"Hey, Haze, what's up?"

He had such a cute smile...

_Focus _Hazel told herself _you aren't here to flirt, and you're with Frank any way. You're here to help him._

"Leo, are you okay?"

His smile faultered, but only for a second, then he regained composure.

"Well no, I'm Leo, Okay's some where..." He raised a hand and squinted his eyes, pretending to point off into the distance.

Okay, so maybe she didn't miss his stupid jokes that much.

"Leo..."

She grabbed his arm and let her hand fall into his. His facade faded and now all that was standing in front of her was a vulnerable boy.

"Are you okay?" She asked again, squeezing his hand, he stiffened at the pressure.

"No," he said, "I'm Leo."

He pulled his hand away from hers and walked down to the lower decks. Hazel didn't follow him, she didn't even try.

_He just needs some time alone, _she thought, _I'll talk to him again later._

"Hazel!" Frank came running up behind her, "What was that?" He said jesturing to the place Leo had just been standing.

"Frank I..." She couldn't meet his eyes, things hadn't been the same with Frank since she'd met Leo.

"It's him isn't it?" Frank looked on the verge of tears.

Hazel tried to walk towards him, to comfort him. But he stepped away, putting his hands out infront of him to ward her off, like she was some kind of dangerous animal.

"I'm sorry!" She cried, "I'm so sorry Fra.."

"Don't!" He stepped towards her then, cornering her, leering over her. "Don't apologise for something you aren't sorry about!"

He turned and walked away, leaving Hazel stunned as the sun sought shelter from this violent day behind the horizon.


	3. Chapter 3

Hazel knocked on his door. She shouldn't be here and she knew it, but she couldn't stay away, she just had to know he was okay.

When he didn't come to the door she went inside.

"Leo?" She called, she heard a hitched sob coming from his bathroom, like somebody trying to hide the fact that they were crying.

She pushed open the door, and found Leo sitting in the middle of the room, a bloodied dagger beside him, and three gashes along his left arm.

"Oh Leo," She knelt down in front of him and grabbed his tortured arm. She didn't say anything, she didn't have to.

Leo leaned into her and let the tears fall, sobs racked his body as Hazel clung to him, desperately hoping that if she held on tight enough his pain would simply go away. Everything else simply faded to the background. All her other problems seemed insignificant, Frank, Percy and Annabeth in Tartarus, even Gaia, none of it seemed as devastating as Leo in pain.

Eventually the tears slowed to a stop. Hazel pulled him to him feet and led him to the bed room, sitting him on the bed while she searched through his endless stack of gadgets and scrolls to find a first aid kit.

"What are you doing in here?" He said eventually as she rummaged through a particularly large pile of scrap metal on his desk.

Hazel didn't want to tell him the truth, that she had been seeking comfort about Frank, about Gaia, about everything. She didn't want to burden him. Right now, she wanted to look after him.

"I came to see if you were okay," she lied.

"I thought we settled this on deck," she heard a smirk in his voice. Only Leo could still be cracking jokes at the moment.

She pulled out the elusive first aid kit and walked over to the bed, searching for a bandage.

"I wanted to see why you weren't okay then," she looked up at him, his smirk was gone now. "Here," he said offering him a piece of ambrosia.

He gulped it down in one bite. Hazel began to disinfect and bandage his arm, even with ambrosia, gashes this deep would take a while to heal.

"Hazel I..."

"Don't you dare say you're okay, because it's pretty obvious you aren't!" She bit back tears, she couldn't cry now.

"I wasn't going to, I was going to say I don't want to burden you with all my problems,"

"Leo, it's not a burden. Worrying about you and not knowing what's wrong is a burden."

She refused to look up at him. She kept her eyes on the bandage on his arm.

"Why did you do this to yourself?"

A tear slid down her cheek, she whipped it away, hoping he hadn't seen.

But he had.

"Hazel," He grabbed her chin and forced her to meet his eyes, those deep brown eyes, "don't cry, please."

"Don't cry?" She stepped off the bed, and stood infront of him. He looked shocked as he looked up at her.

"DON'T CRY!? Don't hurt yourself then! You slit your wrists and then tell me to act like it's okay?" She backed away from the bed and Leo came after her.

Hazel pressed her palms into her temples, and let the tears she had been biting back fall. Leo wrapped her in his arms as she sobbed, and then pulled back to look at her.

"I'm sorry," He said, "please stop, I'm so sorry. Don't cry, please don't cry"

He rested his forehead against hers, and eventually the tears stopped flowing.


	4. Chapter 4

Frank shot another arrow into yet another bird then watched it fall into the landscape of Italy.

It was midnight and he'd been out here since six o'clock, when he was sure Hazel wasn't there anymore.

"She's probably with him," he thought, sending a volley of arrows into the flock, sending 4 dying birds plummeting.

Leo Valdez. Fucking Leo Valdez. He didn't see what she saw in him. He gave her everything! He trusted her! And now were was she?

"Fucking Leo Valdez," his rage over took him and he turned into an over sized eagle and lunged at a passing bird, snapping it's neck in his beak and then letting it fall. He swooped back onto the deck and collapsed in a fit of tears and rage.

Hazel couldn't just leave him like that. He loved her, didn't she get that? He loved her!

He stood up, and whipped away his tears.

There was no way he was going to let Leo just steal her like that. She was his. She would always be his.

_You're mine hazel, _He thought, _and if I can't have you, then nobody can. Especially not Leo._

Frank heard footsteps behind him. He whirled around, loading another arrow onto his bow as he did so.

It was Hazel. She didn't looked shocked that Frank had an arrow aimed at her heart, she looked ashamed, she couldn't even meet his eyes.

For some reason this made him madder. He kept the arrow aimed at her.

"What do you want?" He spat through gritted teeth.

"I came to give this back to you," she said, holding out something small wrapped in a bit of cloth.

Frank knew what it was: The firewood, his life line.

She was returning it to him? Why?

"Why?" He asked.

"Frank, I just don't feel the same any more. I'm so sorry,"

"No you're not," He said, lowering his bow and releasing the tension on the arrow.

He walked forward and took the parcel out of her hands and leaned in to whisper in her ear.

"But you will be"


End file.
